Thanks! I can't replace my DWable cutting board. I found a similar rubber one, which I would never have looked at without your review.

Thanks for the review. I’m in the market for a new cutting board and was wanting a change from Epicurean. Do you have a source you would share?

That’s exactly the change I was looking for. I bought it at a bar/restaurant supply, this one is local to me. I got the $62 one.

https://www.barboyproducts.com/rubber-cutting-board/

Woodworking tools cut through it with a bit of effort. I cut to size with a tablesaw, rounded the new corners with a jig saw, then sanded the edges.

What piqued your interest in rubber cutting boards? I'd never heard of them.

Eileen, I’ve been eyeing them at the restaurant supply for years but never bought one partly because they’re neither cheap nor attractive, but also because I wasn’t sure if I could cut them to sizes I wanted. I never really hear people talking about them, though what I have read has been positive.

dcarch - I had an idea of what NSF meant, but not those details. Thanks for that!

Kudos for recutting them to suit yourself. For myself, I don't like a cutting board which is too attractive, or I won't want to cut on it! Though I do have a cute bread board, shaped like a profile chicken with a hole for the eye. I think the color is something I like about the rubber. Not that it isn't homely, but I'm pretty sure it's the natural color. Looks like it anyway.

What kind of rubber are they? I heard recently on the news that plastic cutting boards are one of the sources for microplastics that find their way into our foods and that they should never be used. I do not know whether this applies to rubber cutting boards or not, but I plan to avoid those as well.

Lars I appreciate and share your concern about microplastics. I have no idea ”what kind of rubber” they are other than to say they’re deemed food safe and are NSF certified. Given they’re not showing any visible wear after months of use, I will say with confidence that a lifetime of food prep on these will add less microplastics to the environment than my tires will on a single drive to the grocery store, my clothes dryer spews into the air each load, or throwing out a single length of plastic wrap from packaged meat. It would be about as low on my list of concerns as I can imagine offhand, if someone could even convince me it is in fact a concern.

So your knives don’t leave cuts in the rubber? That would make them much better than plastic cutting boards, I think. I don’t like the clattery, slipperly feel of the plastic boards.

I basically do everything on a large butcher block board from the restaurant supply store. I have some thin plastic sheets to place on it when cutting poultry or meat, and sometimes I even use them. Every now and then I’ll scrub the butcher block board down with dishwashing soap. They seem to last about a decade before the water gets to them, and cost about $60-80.

John, do you have a link for your butcher block board?

Food, interesting cutting board. Link?

BTW, I see that Milk Street sells a very pricy rubber cutting board with a wood core. I don’t care to spend ~ $148 to $170 on one, however.

I am curious about how science can determine microplastics' damages to health comparing to no microplastics. You may not be able to find one single human with no microplastics to compare with.

Should we be concerned about rubber boards? Well, just think how many cars are on the road every second, and how many rubber tires are turned into micro rubber particles everywhere.

dcarch

Petalique, here is the closest thing I can find quickly. I get mine from a local supply place, and add stick-on rubber ”feet” (hardware store). This one seems well priced, I don’t know if I’m overpaying or if there are different grades of these things. I’m not too fussy about cutting boards - as long as they are big, don’t move around, and don’t dull or catch the knife blade, I’m good.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/choice-24-x-18-x-1-3-4-wood-cutting-board/164WCB1824.html

Rubber feet on the board kind of making it not very good to be able to use both sides of the board.

You can make a quick wood frame so the board without legs can sit on the counter. This you can have one side for meat and one side for everything else.

dcarch

Oh, that’s a good idea (the frame)!

My cutting boards (wood, man-made and Boos block (also wood)) don't have feet of frames. What am I missing?

Here is the article on plastic chopping boards - it does not say anything about rubber cutting boards.

I will stick with wooden boards - I do not like the feel of plastic or rubber, and food slides off of wooden boards more easily. I always transfer food from the board using a dough scraper, and this is very efficient for me.

Incidentally, siting other pollution sources in no way indicates to me that adding another source is a good idea - just my opinion.

plllog, I like the board to sit off the counter so that moisture can dry. The board doesn’t get moved around, so with feet I can just lift one side, swipe the counter with a sponge, and then bother with drying off the counter.

John - Here’s a closer shot of the more-used board I don’t see a single cut.

Lars - Do you hand wash your wooden cutting boards? Separately, with hot water?

FOAS that is pretty impressive - I speculate the rubber gives enough that the blade doesn't cut it? I assume the rubber boards are reasonably hefty and don't slide around?

Ah! Thanks, John. The light shines in. I always wash my boars at the sink and prop them up to finish drying. Then they're out of the way for other cleaning. Feet seem very helpful for your way. Or you could screw a drawer pull into one edge...

John - My teak and rubber cutting boards are similarly sized, my Epicurean close. With regards to slipping, my observations, supported with primitive experiments involving a tape measure and rubber band in order to be as objective as possible, are that under their own weight my 7.5 pound rubber board slides slightly less easily than my 9.75 pound teak board. Under the weight of my palm, rubber is far grippier. Both are worlds better than the Epicurean which may as well be a puck an air hockey table.

While I see some marketing saying the rubber self heals, I’ll take that with a major grain of salt. I believe it gives, like you said. I’d say this is what gives it a different knife feel that takes some getting used to and might slow you down a touch.

I diced a bell pepper and scooped it up with a dough scraper on both teak and rubber. No difference. Personally I generally use the chef’s knife blade for this task, and there is a clear difference. I need to hold the blade at a more acute angle on the rubber or it sticks. Again, a matter of getting used to.

Overall, teak wins for look and feel. If it’s not greasy or smelly or stainy and low risk of contamination, that’s what I’m using. I’ll wipe it off as I use it, wash and dry it daily, oil it regularly, and leave it out on the counter.

For the rest, I’ll pull out a rubber one, use, throw it in the dishwasher, put it away. This is why I want a bunch more smaller ones, as that’s what I’d use most throughout the day.